Enviro News Asia, Jakarta – Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Jakarta (UPNVJ) hosted a two-day Public Consultation on the Comprehensive Community Empowerment Framework Study, organized by Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (Ministry of PPN/Bappenas) on June 23–24, 2026, at the Nusantara 1 Meeting Room on the university’s Pondok Labu campus.
The forum was convened as part of efforts to formulate a comprehensive community empowerment framework, aimed at gathering public aspirations, strengthening policy legitimacy, and shaping a more inclusive, sustainable, and equitable direction for community empowerment across Indonesia.
UPNVJ Rector Prof. Dr. Anter Venus, M.A., Comm., delivered the opening keynote, reflecting the strategic role of higher education institutions as government partners in grounding national development policymaking in academic rigor, research, and public participation.
Bappenas emphasized during the event that community empowerment is a critical instrument for achieving inclusive, sustainable, and equitable development, closely aligned with the 2025–2029 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), particularly in efforts to improve human resource quality, accelerate poverty reduction, reduce inequality, and strengthen an inclusive productive economy.
The consultation was considered especially significant given that existing community empowerment programs across ministries, government agencies, and civil society organizations continue to face several challenges, including interventions not yet fully oriented toward long-term self-reliance, suboptimal mentoring and assistance mechanisms, and the need to strengthen governance and financing for empowerment initiatives.
The first day’s session on June 23 focused on ministries and government agencies, covering presentations on community empowerment studies and deliberations on four key pillars: capacity enhancement, agency development, economic self-reliance, and strengthening community and regional empowerment. The second day expanded participation to include representatives from local governments, civil society organizations, and academia, forming an essential component of participatory policymaking to ensure the framework is both targeted and responsive to diverse community needs nationwide.
Rector Anter Venus said the consultation aligns with UPNVJ’s commitment to becoming a university that contributes directly to strengthening society, stressing that universities must serve as strategic partners of the government in generating ideas, recommendations, and best practices that enhance the welfare, self-reliance, and empowerment of the Indonesian people. (www.upnvj.ac.id)
